The elevated conforming loan limit for mortgages guaranteed or insured by the government will expire on Oct. 1, according to three congressional staffers, but another chance to extend them will come later this year.
Congress raised the limit to as high as $729,750 in 2008 as the private market froze and...
Continue Reading

From the perspective of lenders, come this fall, writing jumbo mortgages without the federal government backing them is akin to walking a tightrope without a safety net. And the widespread prediction is that they just won't do it.
Some analysts predict that if the government no longer covers the risk of...
Continue Reading

Just in time for the spring buying season, mortgage rates have fallen to their lowest level in five months, according to a lender survey released this week. This marks the fourth straight week in which mortgage rates have dropped.
The benchmark for conforming 30-year fixed rate mortgages fell to 4.88 percent,...
Continue Reading

Happy days are here again, at least for the sellers of multimillion dollar homes. After four solid years of penny-pinching, the rich are opening their pocket-books to buy real estate. Cash sales are on the rise. Sales of multimillion dollar homes and condos are up in all 20 major U.S. metro areas, some of...
Continue Reading

Homebuyers Sheryl and John Jones (not their real names) are afraid to buy a new house. The Joneses live in a cozy Dallas duplex only five minutes from the hospital where John practices medicine, working for a large anesthesia physician group.
John loves his job, loves his salary, but doesn't feel he and has...
Continue Reading